The Fall of a Hero
by thegirlwhoisstillwaiting
Summary: Sequel to: The Rise of a Hero. After everything that's happend, the who will break first? Who will fall from grace? OCxxBart
1. Chapter 1

**Bart's pov**

**Earth 16**

**Watchtower**

"Little Wally Grayson. I wish my name was that cool." Someone says behind us. Artemis whips around and nearly passes out. "Oh wait. It is." My mind is quite literally blown.

"You sneaky bastard!" I yell at him as Artemis gives him a good punch in the jaw. He keels over.

"Definitely deserved the-" Artemis cuts him off with a kiss. Dick must have been alerted by my shouting because he puts baby Wally down and runs up to adult Wally and pulls him into a hug.

"I've missed you, KF." Dick grins from ear to ear.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, Baywatch!" Artemis snarls.

"Love you too, Babe." Wally kisses her again, pulls away and looks at me. He can't just die and come back like this. I came back from the future to fix everything, not let him die. It broke me, but now he is back. Seeing my angry expression. He looks like he is trying to apologize, but can't find the words.

"How did you come back?" Dick asks his long lost friend.

"Because I still had something to go back to, the speedsters helped me. They all had a higher intellectual than mine, so we all worked together and they built a machine to send me back. So, here I am." He informed us.

"What kind of device?" I ask. Nearly biting my tongue.

"Inter-dimensional transporter. But they can't follow. The machine started falling apart before I was sent back. It's was destroying itself, but I made it." He smiles and puts his arm around Artemis.

"That's amazing." I bite my tongue this time. He gets to just be transported back when I was trapped in the past. But, If i wasn't trapped, i wouldn't have met Bella. But he could have just stayed there. He died. We were all just getting over it and he just waltzes back in and expects EVERYONE to just be happy for him.

"Bart." Bella touches my shoulders. Her startling eyes melt me.

"I'm fine." I try to look calm but that won't help. Not with having an empath for a girlfriend.

"It's great to meet you in the flesh, Wally." Bella gives him a smile and grabs my hand. "Why don't we go to the garden? I've had a long day." She pulls me away. Once in the memorial garden, she slumps against a tree.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, she sighs.

"I think I need a vacation from heroism." She stares blankly off into the distance.

"What do you want to do?" I ask as I pick up her hand and hold it in mine.

"Maybe go to Florida, maybe Hawaii. Just a week of normalcy." She huffs.

"I don't think I could go with you on that vacation. The world always needs heroes." I remind her.

"I know. Maybe I'll just stay home for a few days. Take more naps, eat some sweets, maybe even catch up on some reading. I just need some time away if that is too much to ask." She plans.

"I could stop by and hang out when I'm not on duty." I offer. She continues to look blankly into the distance.

"Whatever you choose to do, we are still going to Bibbo's after missions, if you're on them or not." I give her a smile.

"Sure, whatever you want." She speaks in a happy tone, but she remains unchanged in her demeanor. We just sit in the garden for a while. Everything is silent and relaxing.

For the next four days, I barely see her. I don't see Wally or Artemis at all so I have nothing to be extremely angry about. The missions are bleak. Nothing exciting. Just the sames things over and over again. It bothers me. But today, as I sit in the diner, doubting Bella is going to show up, she does. She makes her way past the booths and sits on the stool next to mine at the counter.

"Hello, Bella." I smile at her, happy that she has shown up.

"Hi." she says quietly. "I just woke up from a nap." she beams.

"Feeling up to coming in for a mission yet?" I ask her. She shakes her head.

"I don't think I'm ready. I'm still getting headaches from my special empathy trip to the dimension next door." she frowns.

"Maybe a few more days then?" I ask. she nods.

"I'm think I'll be ready on Monday. As much as I hate Mondays, I'll come in." she sighs. I can tell she doesn't want to come in at all, but I think it'll do her some good to same some people here and there.

"Sounds like a plan." I agree. I take a sip of my strawberry milkshake as she order's a vanilla. "Vanilla?" I ask.

"Yeah, just in the mood to switch things up a bit." She has an upbeat tone. I'm satisfied that she isn't emotionless anymore. She really needs this time off.

"That's fun." I comment and we sit and talk about summer and what we might do when we're not out being heros. She checks her phone.

"I told my mom I would be home at two. Its one forty five." She pays her bill for the milkshake. I pay as well.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" I ask. She smiles.

"I thought you'd never ask." When I stand up, she grabs my arm and puts it over her shoulder, so I'm holding her. We walk out and make our way down the street.

"It's quite warm outside." I remark.

"Yeah, makes you miss fall. But the winter was brutal this year." She laughs. The wind picks up and blows her hair around her face. She nearly spits when it gets in her mouth, causing me to burst out laughing.

"Having a snack are we?" I ask her.

"Do NOT make fun of me!" She growls at me but can't help but laugh as well.

"I'm sorry, but it's too easy." I hug her and we continue walking. When we finally make it to her house, she turns around and faces me.

"Do you want to come inside?" She asks.

"Nah, I can't. Jay wants me to help out with the yard work." I refer the to original Flash.

"Alright." She says. I pull her into a kiss. As soon as it starts to get a little intense, she pulls away. "See you tomorrow?" She asks.

"Sure, If I don't have a mission, I'll come over at maybe noon. If I do, I text you when it's over so we can meet at Bibbo's." I tell her. She kisses me on the cheek.

"Bye, Bart." She gives me that million dollar smile. She watches me speed off back to the zeta tube.


	2. Chapter 2

**Bella's pov**

**Earth 16**

**Metropolis**

**2017**

I watch Bart disappear with a speed I can only dream of. I feel awkward for pulling out of the kiss. I'm afraid to let things get too serious. Not yet. Not while I'm like this. So I go inside my house and lock the door. I head to the kitchen to grab some food. When I walk to the living room, the Joker is sitting on my sofa. When I walk over to the recliner, he stands up and approaches me with a shamed yet determined feeling flowing off of him.

"Get out." I tell him calmly as I sit down with my bag of chips.

"Don't get snippy with me, sparkles. I'm being paid a lot of money to see if you are… prime." He takes on a greedy demeanor. But, it quickly changes to an interested one. He pulls out a pin and stabs me, collecting a drop of blood on the pin. I heal.

"What the hell was that for!" I scream at him.

"I needed a sample for one of your father's associates." He inserts the pin into a little scanner. It begins running.

"Why?" I ask. The scanner's screen turns white.

"Like I said before, to see if you are prime." He laughs.

"Prime? Prime for what?" I snap at him.

"Prime for something that isn't important for you to know right now. Because obviously, you aren't." He walks towards the door.

"Goodbye." I growl at him. He leaves. I get up and lock the door. I take a deep breath, and exhale. If the Joker was here before I got home, then I should see if he left any presents. I go up stairs and make a thorough sweep of the second floor. Only some things have been moved, like picture frames and decorations. I check all of them for bugs before straightening. I find a bug in my bedroom. A listening device. It's behind the mirror of my vanity. I keep it in my hand and go make a sweep of the first floor. There is another bug in the kitchen. I put it in my other hand and grab my altoid mint tin from my purse. I dump out the mints and put the bugs carefully into the container to not alert whomever is listening on the other side. Then, I carefully duct tape it shut. I grab all of my cotton balls for removing nail polish and fill a shoe box. I put the mint tin in the center and put the lid on the shoe box. I duct tape the shoe box shut and label the box, 'covert listening devices courtesy of the joker', just incase anyone finds it. I put the box away at the top of my closet. As if on cue my comm beeps.

"Dynami." I answer.

"This is Red Tornado. The league's security camera's trained on your house spotted the Joker. Are you alright?" The android's voice sounds concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. He was here when I got home, so I swept for bugs. I found two but packed them away so they can't listen for anything. Tell Batman I'll bring the box in later." I reply.

"Just as long as you are alright." He says. The line goes dead. I go upstairs and lay on my bed. The joker's visit is giving me a headache. Bart texts me.

Bart: I heard what happened. Are you okay?

Me: Fine. Nothing happened.

Bart: Do I need to come over later?

Me: No, I'm fine.

Bart: Ok. See you tomorrow

Me: See you tomorrow.

The conversation is short and to the point. I put my phone on the bedside table and close my eyes. When I open them, the clock reads four in the afternoon. I get up and brush my hair, its a bit wild from my nap. I straighten my tank top and shorts and put on my converse. I grab a pair of sunglasses, my phone, and the box, and leave. I bolt for the zeta tube and zeta to Watchtower. The computerized voice announces my arrival.

"Tornado told me you were coming." Batman approaches. I hand him the box.

"Yeah. I wanna know what you can tell me about the listening devices." I tell him.

"Well, then. Follow me." He takes the box and leads me into the lab. After about half an hour of careful and silent scanning, he turns to me.

"They are simple bugs, transmitting to a receiver somewhere in Gotham." He puts the bugs back into the box, then locks them into a metal box. "They aren't capable of transmitting their location, so they should be safe here.

"Thanks." I give him a smile. "Well, I'll be leaving now." I turn to go.

"You can return anytime you want, but your team could need you and you might not be there." He tells me as I walk away. I stop and turn slightly.

"But I could also put them in danger. Joker only came because one of Darkseid's associates paid him to see if I was prime. Apparently I'm not yet, so they could check in at anytime. I'd rather be as far away from the team as possible." I retort, them walk away. I zeta home. My mom is home.

"Where have you been?" She asks in a demanding tone.

"Tu as aller à tour de guet." A mechanical whisper comes from the kitchen.

"Mom? Do we have a guest?" I ask.

"No. Why would you think that?" My mother is a horrible liar, and this is not a lie. She genuinely thinks no one is home.

"I went to see grumpy. Can you go to the living room?" I ask her. Making a face that would signal her to do what I say. She reluctantly walks away. I silently walk into the kitchen. So far nothing.

"Venez à moi, enfant. Le clown est incompétent." The whisper is barely audible. Whatever this is, it knows I have super human hearing. I re-sweep the kitchen for anything and everything. There isn't even a bug let alone a person. "Je vais vraiment tester si vous êtes premier." The mechanical voice returns.

"Sorry, child! But it has to be this way!" A deep voice comes from the living room where my mother is. I run to her but it's too late. She is crumpled on the floor. I am reassured with a tired emotion coming off of her. She is simply knocked out. But the large man standing before me is someone I can't take alone. Black Adam.

"Apologies." A robot with a french accent rolls into the room. The Brain. "We must find out if you are prime." He speaks in such a mechanical tone. I get almost no emotions from him.

"What are you going to do?" I ask slyly. I've gotten out of sticky situations before, I can do it again.

"We must cut into your brain and take a sample before you heal." The robot says.

"Tehn what do you need him for?" I ask.

"To keep cutting so I can retrieve the sample." The robot replies.

"Don't worry." Adam says in a near middle eastern voice. "It may only be excruciating." He smiles.

"Just do it then." I urge him. There is nothing that can hurt more than going nuclear. Literally.

"Oh we can't do it here." The french robot monotonously laughs. "It's not a medical facility. We need my laboratory equipment to analyse on site." He says as Adam picks me up and throws me over his shoulder faster than I can blink.

"If you're kidnapping me, its already been done." I sigh. I touch my communicator, it calls watchtower. "You gotta atleast tell me where we are going." I try to persuade.

"If you must know, we are going to Apokolips." He states.

"Watchtower to Dynami, this is Superman." My communicator relays into my ear.

"Why are you taking me to Apokolips?" I ask.

"I'm initiating a league wide mission to retrieve you." Superman says in the comm.

"Because it is your home planet. Your father wants you re-conditioned to join his furies. AFTER the light test is sure of your potential." Brain says as Adam walks me out of the house. I hear the sounds of Superman's flight and Flash and Bart's running. The boom tube portal opens. The last thing I see of earth is Bart and Flash trying to dive through the portal. It closes with me on the wrong side.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bart's p.o.v**

**Central City**

"Captain Cold stealing ice? A little redundant?" I tell Barry as we run around probably the dumbest ice villain, well, next to Icicle jr. I really do not understand the genes and level of intelligence in that group. We continue running.

"Wally felt the same way the first time this happened." Barry laughs. I'm annoyed. I hate being compared to him. It makes me feel like a copy, a remake. My communicator beeps. I press it.

"Watchtower to all leaguers. One of the Team members in being abducted in Metropolis." Superman says in my ear. With hearing that, my immediate impulse is to take Captain Cold's ice blaster and kick him down. Barry handcuffs him.

"It's Bella! We have to go! We can make it!" I tell Barry. I think I see him nod because I explode east to Metropolis. Everything blurs but then becomes clear. He follows me. I'm pushing my fasted speed, everything seems frozen in time to me. I actually feel almost tired, I'm going so fast. When I hit Metropolis, I try to get to her. But she is being carried through the boom tube, I slow up to try to follow and jump through, but it closes and I fall on the ground. I sit there on the ground, looking at the ground where the boom tube was. She doesn't deserve this. Not again. I failed her the first time, I cannot fail in saving her again. I hear Superman land.

"Barry, it's time we prepare for a rescue mission." He tells my mentor.

"I agree. But he may have some trouble.

"Bart." Barry touches my back. "We are being recalled to watchtower." He tells me. I get up but only too late to see a large man incapacitate superman and swat away Barry. I've never seen him before. His silver colored armor glints in the sun. His red eyes glow out of the gloom within his greek styled helmet.

"You are coming with me, boy. I must show you the light." He grabs me by the shoulder and drags me through a portal I assume is a boom tube. When we emerge, I see a majority of red and black. Plumes of smoke enter the atmosphere and I grow afraid. The journey is him dragging me into a massive stone fortress. I'm thrown onto a cold, black, marble floor. Two pairs of glowing red handcuffs are put onto my ankles and wrists. I just laugh and vibrate mu molecules. The areas beneath the handcuffs begin to burn, I have to stop.

"What did you make these with?" I shout. I sit up from the ground to see Darkseid sitting on a black throne.

"If you are familiar with apokoliptian hellspores, the diluted liquid form of the core is inside the metal of the handcuffs. When you try to escape, the core reacts and weakens you. Perfect for containing speedsters such as you." The notorious scientist of Apokolips drops his hood. The reputation of Desaad's deformed face precedes him.

"It hurts too." I laugh at his sick ingenuity. Darkseid grumbles.

"I had them specially made for my daughter but we have found that she cannot escape with her speed the way you do." He tells me. I begin to worry but hide it beneath a mask of amusement.

"I feel honored." I pour sarcasm into my tone. I vibrate my molecules as much as possible to slip out instead of phase through. I get slight burning but once I'm out, I run as fast as possible with Darkseid bellowing.

"After him!" He orders as I run around trying to find Bella. I run past a room with screaming escaping the walls. I stop and turn back to look inside. Through the crack of the door, I see the Brain and Black Adam. There is a struggling female strapped to the table, her face hidden by Adam. But, I see bloody, straight, blonde hair flowing off the table. I just barely hear the sound of a saw between her screams. It has to be Bella, but I can't just rush in there. She stops screaming.

"That frickin hurt! Now let me go!" She shouts an order. It's Bella's voice.

"We are done." The Brain assures her. I see hair and skin from the top of her head grow back to it's original state. She sits up and I see her face, confirming that it's Bella. They inject her with something and she crumples and rolls off of the table.

"Did you make sure it was the right vial? With her regeneration, she could burn off the sedative and wake up before we are ready." The Brain faces Adam.

"Yes, I made sure it was the right vial. The cocktail of human and apokoliptian sedatives." He says. I run so fast that time is frozen around me. I pick up Bella and run out of the room. I can't bare to look at her face. Seeing her hurt is making me angry and I need to focus on getting her out of her. But all of the sudden, time starts again around me but I am frozen.

"Silly boy. Did you not think I would prepare for a speedster's attempt to escape?" Darkseid and his guards approach me. He has little traps around me that are forcing magnetic fields that holds me still. A hooded figure raises their hand and in an aura of black, Bella is lifted out of my arms. I am lifted as well and we are taken back to the throne room. Bella is set into a blue magnetic field. It suspends her above ground, she floats with her arms spread eagle. Her face looks up to the ceiling and her hair flowing around her. She looks eerie. I am chained and injected with something.

"Do not try to escape again, boy." Desaad orders. "this injection suppresses the metagene in humans for a time."

"So no super speed or vibrating molecules. Got it." I scowl at him.

"Oh don't be so mad. You'll live to see the new Bella. To see Solari." Darkseid chuckles. I put it together. They are going to recondition her.

"And until then?" I ask while pulling on the chains.

"We are going to make the remainder of your life hell." He seems to promise. He looks behind himself at Bella. "And she is going to be awake to watch." I hear her Bella moan slightly. She's waking up.

"She may never forgive you." I tell him. "It could cause her to rebel." I try to convince him not to torture me so I can think of an escape plan for Bella and I.

"She's not going to remember." He retorts as he backhands me. He's going to wipe her memory. That means her memories of me.

"Taking away the memories of what makes her good isn't going to turn her bad!" I shout at him. He kicks me.

"Oh? How is that?" He roars. I feel the reverberations of his voice.

"You can't erase instinct! Her instinct is to be a hero!" I yell at him. Darkseid growls in protest as he burns me with a look. I shout in pain.

"Stop!" Bella screams. She is awake.

"No! If I had left you two alone, he would have tainted you!" Darkseid bellows and burns me again.

"I said stop!" She screams. It's near deafening how shrill a distressed girl is.

"You will not raise your voice to me!" He shouts back. Darkseid leaves me and approaches her. I sit shouting at him as I watch helplessly. He beats her and she can't even fight back. She explodes with energy and still screams as cries as he hurts her. He fights her as she burns his stony skin.

"Master! We must recondition her soon. You're running out of time to torture the boy." Desaad informs with a sick and twisted facial expression.

"You are right, scientist." Darkseid stops hurting Bella. He turns to me and starts going at it. Beating me, burning me, he even begins mental attacks. Luckily, I black out. The unconsciousness keeps me from feeling anything, if he is still torturing me. I'm beginning to feel like I deserve it. I can't return to the future, I didn't have enough kinetic energy to save Wally, I couldn't save Bella, Wally came back just barely batting an eye, and I can't save Bella now. I'm weak and I can't do anything. I may wear the costume, but I'm no real hero. Just a speedy prankster. I'm just a kid. The darkness consumes me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Bella's p.o.v**

**Watchtower**

The last thing I saw before Desaad put me under was the Justice League breaking into the throne room. So, I guess they rescued Bart and I. But maybe they failed. Or maybe I'm being reconditioned and Darkseid destroyed the league as well and Bart. Oh, Bart. I couldn't bare to watch him be hurt. I couldn't look away either. I needed to know everything he did to Bart so I could do it to him when I wake up. It will destroy him. At first, my memories and thoughts began to slip away but they rush back with vivid clarity. Soon, I am having glimpses of consciousness, blurred figures.

"His mind is damaged, much like Kaldur's a while ago. I can fix it, but it may take bit." I hear M'gann say.

"Alright, just do your best to bring him back to his family." Barry says as he walks away. I go back under. My next moment of consciousness begins with Bart turning to face me and asking if I was awake. I try to reply yes but a muffled, slurred sentence comes out. I fall back into the darkness. There is another moment of consciousness. Nothing is blurred this time. I see Bart sleeping. I get one sentence out.

"I'm so sorry." I tell him. As I fade away, he opens his eyes and looks at me.

"I'm sorry too." He whispers and reaches out to me. I go back under. It feels like an eternity of darkness until I wake up again. When I do, my eyes creep open to see Bart asleep again. I sit up slowly. I feel sore, like I was conditioning all day before. I ease myself out of bed and carefully slide into Bart's bed without disconnecting any of my wires. I curl up against Bart's chest and go to sleep. His rhythmic breaths on my head and his heartbeat against my back. When I wake up, I carefully turn over to avoid detaching any wires. Bart opens his eyes.

"Hi." He says.

"Hi." I reply back to him.

"I'm not feeling too hot." He closes his eyes but I can tell by the emotions around him that he is still awake.

"Do you want me to go get someone?" I ask.

"You don't have to. I was just gonna wait." He rasps. I kiss his forehead and get up. I turn off my machines and disconnect. I straighten up the white scrubs I'm in and walk out of the med bay. The ground is cold beneath my feet. There seems to be no one around until I find all of the Leaguers in the conference room. Some seem to be shocked that I am awake.

"Bart isn't feeling well. I came to get someone." I say. Barry, Black Canary, Batman and Superman get up.

"Glad you came for someone. Flash and Canary will go and help." Superman tells me. I follow the two leaguers back to the medical bay.

"I get two? I feel special." He tries to laugh but holds his chest in pain.

"Take it easy, Bart. Your ribs are still fractured." Canary smiles as she gives him some pain killers.

"If he has serious injuries and I have regeneration, what would happen if we transfused him with my blood?" I ask her. I've thought about this before.

"Well, it could heal him now. Even if it doesn't, it can't hurt him." Barry says. "It could get him out of the med bay faster."

"I'm all for that." Bart says submissively. Something feels off about him. There isn't much happiness in his aura.

"I can try it." I tell them.

"Bella, why don't you get some food from the cafeteria for you and Bart and bring it back here. Then we can give you a check up and then draw blood." Barry tells me. I nod and walk out. I don't pass anyone. It seems people are either out on missions or at home. In the cafeteria, I grab us sandwiches, water, and an apple for each of us. Simple food to eat. I balance it all on a tray. When I get back to the room, Bart is laying back while Canary and Barry talk. I give bart his food and set mine down at the end of his bead. I sit on the bed next to him.

"Just sit up and lean forward. I just need to listen to your heart." Canary says. I do as she says. "Finally sound normal. It's been iffy since the…" She means the abduction.

"Alright, so I'm okay now?" I ask.

"Yeah. You can go eat now. I'll get the stuff to draw your blood." Canary smiles like I am a child. I'm fourteen, not a kid. I sit down at the foot of Bart's bed and start eating. Canary set's me up with a tube coming out of my arm into a bag. When it's full, I am disconnected and Bart is set up with it on his IV drip. We have this little game of catching eachother looking. It's cute. Once we are done eating, we just turn on a tv and sit in his bed. I'm careful not to cause him any pain while he is healing.

*****One Week Later*****

**Bella's House**

Bart and I sit on my sofa, watching a movie. He has his arm around me and my head is in the crook of his neck, my legs draped across his lap. It's so relaxing, I don't think I ever want to move again.

"So we said we were gonna talk about it sooner or later." Bart says.

"Yeah I know." I look at my hands.

"So what is your decision?" He asks.

"It hasn't even been a year, but I think I'm going to give up heroism for now. Things only started to happen to me when I put on the mask." I tell him.

"I was expecting that. But, we will still get to see each other outside of school and when I'm off duty." He seems sad.

"We definitely can. But think of it as a leave of absence for a year or two." I tell him. "and I will still come in if it is an absolute emergency, okay?" I look at him.

"Okay." He gives me a peck on the lips and we continue our movie. (It's Iron Man)


End file.
